As Obama nears the end of his presidency, more and more black — and even some white — Americans are holding “sit-outs” during the national anthem and pledge of allegiance in a testimony to the divisiveness of his time in office.

On Wednesday, Missouri State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed refused to stand while her colleagues recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the state capitol. Nasheed’s display is the latest in a series of similar acts inspired by NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the national anthem.

“He’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement.”

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said in defense of his actions, parroting the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter.

But Kaepernick’s behavior may not have sparked a trend that has now spread to other professional athletes, kids in high schools across the country, and state politicians had President Obama not implicitly endorsed it.

“My understanding, at least, is that is he’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement. I think there’s a long history of sports figures doing so,” the president said when asked about Kaepernick’s stunt.

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Indeed, Obama not only failed to condemn Kaepernick’s behavior, but he surely also influenced it. At every step along the way during his time in office Obama has contributed to a racially charged climate.

Of course, before he was even elected, Obama regularly attended the radical sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “Not God bless America. God damn America!” Wright once proclaimed. He also referred to “white America” as the “U.S. of KKK A.”

Once in office, Obama took it upon himself to diminish the idea of American exceptionalism. He undertook his famed apology tour, and even implicitly denounced the notion that America was uniquely exceptional.

“I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism,” he said in 2009. That same year, he went to Europe not as the President of the United States or the Leader of the Free World, but as a “citizen of the world.”

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When Obama wasn’t busy subverting the notion of American greatness, he was fueling the myth of American systemic racism. After Harvard professor Henry Gates was arrested outside of his in 2009, after a report of what appeared to be forcible entry, Obama claimed the police officer — who was just following protocol — “acted stupidly.”

In 2012, when black teen Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, whilst viciously beating Zimmerman’s head into the pavement, Obama did not call for any sort of calm. Instead he said that, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

Two years later, after petty criminal Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson while in the process of assaulting Wilson and trying to take his gun, Obama rushed to judgement before the facts of the case were known, choosing to believe a false media narrative that Brown was killed with his hands up. Brown’s death “stains the heart of black children,” Obama claimed.

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Obama once again implied America suffers from systemic institutional racism after black petty criminal Freddie Grey was killed in the custody of black police officers under the charge of a black police chief who answers to a black mayor. “There are problems and challenges when it comes to how policing and our laws are applied in certain communities,” he said.

Of course, Obama isn’t the only one who has had a part in fostering this racially charged anti-American climate. His first Attorney General, Eric Holder, blamed criticism of the president on racism and called America “a nation of cowards” for failing to address this alleged racism. Michelle Obama implied she never felt pride for her country before her husband was elected.

Instead of insinuating that Kaepernick’s childish behavior was somehow noble, Obama could have taken the opportunity to actually be the racial healer the nation was promised in 2008. But no — yet again President Obama decided to fan the flames of racial discord.